ON BALANCE
Endangered Black Stilt
Conservation efforts have prevented the extinction of New Zealand's black stilt, though the bird's population remains very small
Black stilts and at least 15 other bird species were saved from extinction by conservation efforts during the decade starting in 1994. Water bird populations in Europe and North America have grown by 44 percent, a change attributed to management and wetland protection. Since 1988, 25 mammals, including the European bison, have been downlisted by the IUCN, meaning they are in less peril of extinction. Still, the world's goal was to significantly slow down the loss rate by 2010, and we're missing that goal by a margin big enough for planet's whole remaining population of endangered elephants to tramp through. Reversing the downward trend in biodiversity "is a huge goal, but I wouldn't say this is impossible," says one of the coauthors of the Science paper, Alessandro Galli, an environmental scientist working with the Global Footprint Network in Oakland, Calif. The treaty nations (which, by the way, don't include the United States) may decide to set a new goal when they meet in October in Nagoya, Japan. Galli's message: "the issue has to be taken seriously." And, at the risk of perkiness, a bit optimistically ............................................................................................
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